largest spearpoint

[daddyrog]

Anyone know the largest spearpoint made by indians; my brother traded a Tenn. preacher out of one in the early 60's; that he said he found in a river bed below an old indian graveyard after some flooding; my brother is now gone and the artifact was left to me; and from all the research that I have done; it seams as if the indians never made anything this big; it is a dove tail and measures 13 1/2 inches long and 2 1/4 wide at the widest point; any help or info appreachated

 

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[SouthernGirl]

Really sorry for your loss. Great points sure hope the big spear is real.

 

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[Tnmountains]

any idea on how to contact him.

You mean besides doing a google search for "Tennessee State Archaeologist" -?

Nope.

I have tried google and none of the addresses I get work; keep getting emal errors; also tried your link from the pm Tn. it dosen't work either.

Ok just looked at it and missed a dot. Opps thats me.PM sent again

 

[daddyrog]

emailed pic's to the Tennessee State Archaeologist and this was his reply;
The large spearpoint is modern and probably made out of Burlington chert. It is a nice one, but it is not prehistoric. The other points in the case are ancient dating from 9,500 to about 2,000 years ago.

Thanks to all that have helped; great forum.

 

[Captain Al]

Just my two cents worth, but I wouldn't take ANYBODY'S opinion ( either yea or nay) that was based solely on a photograph.

 

[Tnmountains]

Sounds like you got a lot of good opinions anyways. Now if you want to get a certificate of authenticity at least you have some good knowledge going in. The people on this board are pretty sharp and have taught me a lot.
take care
TnMtns

 

[steve71]

trust me they can get big.one was dug up in the buckeye knoll site in victoria tx area.it was 11in stemed blade and the only place where this flint is found naturally is in belieze.this piece was 7500yrs old.

 

[latrans]

Just my two cents worth, but I wouldn't take ANYBODY'S opinion ( either yea or nay) that was based solely on a photograph.

This. I would say that this particular archeologists confidence is his own photoauthentication skills would lead me disregard his opinion. Generally speaking archs are not very experienced at spotting fakes or repros as that is not something they typically come across in their excavations.

 

[latrans]

Just my two cents worth, but I wouldn't take ANYBODY'S opinion ( either yea or nay) that was based solely on a photograph.

This. I would say that this particular archeologists confidence is his own photoauthentication skills would lead me disregard his opinion. Generally speaking archs are not very experienced at spotting fakes or repros as that is not something they typically come across in their excavations.

So...you think it's real?

No I don't, but I am willing to allow for the fact that I don't know everything either.

 

[newnan man]

This was found in Central America I believe. I kept the pic because it was such a large point. Big ones are out there.

 

[joshuaream]

Newnan Man,

That's actually a point style from Baja California, Mexico. I've got a broken & glued one about half that size around here, but that example is spectacular.

Joshua

 

[steve71]

I am sorry for your loss.

Just going by description, it's pretty hard to imagine a dove that big from that era not being a Reinhardt (or some other maker), but you are certainly in on of the areas where big blades have been found in numbers and in relatively low level mortuary settings... What's the material? Dover would be interesting because it would be the expected material for the area, Edwards Plateau would be suspect for obvious reasons.

I hope it's real and your brother left you a 5 or 6 figure relic!

Joshua
listen, just becouse some material is out of place dont make it fake for obvious reasons?they find krf in texas you know where krf material is from?check out the buckyeye knoll site in texas lots of material from different areas. some east of the mississippi and some all the way from belieze.they dug up 99 bodies which some had materials from great distances.

 

[joshuaream]

Joshua
listen, just becouse some material is out of place dont make it fake for obvious reasons?they find krf in texas you know where krf material is from?check out the buckyeye knoll site in texas lots of material from different areas. some east of the mississippi and some all the way from belieze.they dug up 99 bodies which some had materials from great distances.

Steve,

I was just making an observation based on what I have seen about what the most likely material should be.

Some natives traded a lot, others not so much. Some artifact types are made from almost any type of material, other artifacts in specific areas are made from pretty specific materials. In his area the vast majority of authentic 10 inch plus blades are made from Dover. A big blade made of Ewards would be suspect, not neccesarily fake, just not what is commonly expected. If Daddyrog's relic was reported from California the material of choice (thinking about those big wealth blades made by some groups) would be Obsidian.

If you talk about big hoes from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mill Creek Chert was the most common choice for ancient natives, even when they apparently had to bring the material/tool in from a distance. Hornstone, Cobden, Kaolin, Indiana Green, Edwards, Flint Ridge, Alibates, Coral, Dover, etc. would all be suspect for the tool type and area.

Your shark vertebrae earspool is a made from a neat and entirely logical material for your area, where as jade, obsidian, cannal coal, pipestone, etc. would be less common and therefore suspect. I'd guess that the shale looking rock that caddoans used for spools could also be possible in your area.

Joshua

 

[daddyrog]

Newnan Man; wow; thats one big rock;